


The First

by tansypool



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Canon Compliant, F/M, Fluff, Pre-Series
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-07
Updated: 2014-04-07
Packaged: 2018-01-18 12:02:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,033
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1427776
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tansypool/pseuds/tansypool
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There's a first time for everything.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The First

She first sees him on his horse, entering Riverrun with so many northern men behind him. But she pays him no attention; her gaze is set on the man she will one day marry, wondering who he is and what he will be like.

He first sees her standing between her siblings in a gown of Tully blue, auburn hair held away from her face by ribbon. Her sister stands sombre to one side, and her brother clutches her hand on the other. She seems the mothering type – Brandon will hopefully be kind to her and their children.

She’s alone when she first reads the letter from which she learns that Brandon is dead. She doesn’t know how she should feel – they were to be married, but she had spent so little time in his presence that any affection felt was fuelled by her duty. But even with Brandon’s death, she knows that it will still be expected of her to become the Lady of Winterfell.

He realises that it now falls to him to be the Lord of Winterfell, to marry the Tully girl, all at once, when he is in the company of nobody but the bones of his father and brother. Honour-bound though he is, the thought still terrifies him.

He first kisses her at the gates of Riverrun, the slightest of touches of his lips to her hand, in an awkwardly solemn gesture of greeting. He can only hope that it becomes less awkward in their marriage.

The first time she kisses him is at their wedding – a grey and white cloak around her shoulders and a kiss so chaste she’d have thought she imagined it were it not for the overwhelming uneasiness settling firmly in the pit of her stomach.

The bedding is the first time that this is expected of her, and the first time that it happens to her – she is unsure, not knowing what to do or what her husband will expect of her, only that this is supposed to _hurt_.

It is the first time that he has bedded a maiden, and though he may dearly want not to cause her pain, he cannot help it.

The first time that she realises she is with child, she cannot help but think of her own mother.

When he first learns that she is with child, he is still trying to think of the war at hand. But his thoughts drift to his lady wife and their child. He can only just recall her face, but he hopes that their child has Catelyn’s eyes.

She is exhausted and still hurting when she first holds Robb. He watches her with his Tully blue eyes and she cannot help but smile. She wonders if Eddard will return while their son is still young.

He first holds the boy called Jon as Lyanna lays dead. As he holds him, the promise whispered as she died runs through his mind. To protect his nephew – no, his son.

She greets him for the first time after the war with their son in her arms. She fears as to why he also carries a child.

It is the first lie that he must tell her, and he swears to himself that it will be the only one.

Her first sight of Winterfell is on a cloudy day, far colder than she ever knew in southron winters. Robb will grow up knowing this as normal, though, and she hopes that she will grow accustomed to it.

He first seeks to bed her himself only after talk of a second son – at least at their wedding, he did not have to do so of his own volition.

She is glad that the first time he lays with her in Winterfell, it does not hurt; nothing could hurt as much as Robb, though.

He first kisses her with no sense of duty or purpose before he leaves for Karhold. As he pulls away, he thinks he sees her smile.

They first truly kiss upon his return. She smiles upon seeing him, and when their lips have parted, she whispers to him, “Robb is starting to walk.”

The idea of making another son is becoming less daunting, and over time, it is becoming less of a duty. She seeks him one evening, and while this is new, it is the first time that the act does not carry with it any sense of discomfort for either of them.

Winter comes closer the first time they lay together to do naught but sleep. She had spent most of the day huddled in furs, but could not control her shivering. He had grown up with weather like this being mild, so only realised just how severe it must seem when her fingertips appeared almost blue.

He quietly enters her chambers as she is removing the many layers she had wrapped herself in for that day, as she stands close to the fire but somehow appears cold. She pauses and turns when she hears him close the door.

“My lord.”

“My lady. Catelyn. Cat.” His hands fumble together. “You- you looked cold today. It is warmer at night when a bed is shared, so I thought…”

“Oh, ah, of course.” She turns away to remove the bulk of the layers she has left, though considerably slower, as he begins to strip to his smallclothes. A moment later, she pulls the blankets over herself and lays stiffly on one half of the bed; he does the same, but then turns to face her.

“It is more effective when you are touching,” he soon whispers. He reaches to place an arm around her, but hesitates – “May I?”

In response, she shuffles closer to him, and turns so as to press her back to his chest. He holds her closer.

“Goodnight, Cat.”

“Goodnight, Ned.”

He pauses briefly, then presses his lips to the back of her neck and kisses her softly. She curls into him.

It is the first time that they wake up together since the bedding, and the first time that they wake in each other’s arms. But they both know that it is only the first time of many.


End file.
